RIO DE JANEIRO -- A Brazilian family today delivered a 9-year-old boy to his American father, ending a five-year custody battle.

The boy, Sean, was brought into the U.S. consulate by his maternal
grandmother and his stepfather, making it into the compound's front
door as scores of reporters and cameramen tried to get close. His U.S.
dad, David Goldman, was waiting for him inside.

Sean
Goldman 9, arrives today at the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, hugging his Brazilian stepfather, Joao Paulo Lins e Silva. The
man in the suit at right is the family's attorney Sergio Tostes. David
Goldman's bitter five-year battle to regain custody of his son neared
conclusion Wednesday, when the child's Brazilian family halted its
legal efforts as a court-ordered deadline for delivering the boy
loomed. Goldman has said repeatedly that until he is on a plane heading
to the U.S. with 9-year-old Sean at his side, he would not feel relief.
But with a court ordering the boy's handover this morning at the U.S.
Consulate, the end appeared to be in sight. (Eduardo Naddar/AP)